OK I have a laundry-related question for you all...

[Clary]

Talking with a colleague we got round to washing (not sure how) and she revealed that she does several loads a day. One reason for this is that in her house, whenever anyone has a shower or bath, they get a clean towel, use it then drop it in the washing basket.
I was at this. I change our towels once a week (everyone has their own for their exclusive use).
Quick poll round the office revealed that my colleague was excessive, but it was late and their were only 2 grungy men and a single woman so I felt I needed the guidance of MN-ers.
Sooooo - am I dirty? Or is my colleague a bit obsessive? Does anyone else do this?????

dsw

we have these radiator dryer thingys that we put our towels over after using them to dry, and we always use the same dryer each time, ie same place for same towel

and we have non-matching towels

all dd's are pink

all mine are white

all dh's are blue

we all have different colours so we know that way....

I try to do them once a week, but sometimes i forget

think everyday is excessive, but maybe i'm the skanky one

We have different colours so we know whose are whose, and it is up to us how often we change them. Me = twice a week, ds = after every 2 baths, dp = I would not like to guess, I occasionally chuck his in the wash myself when the smell knocks me back as I open the airing cupbaord.

We change towels twice a week. DH and I have white towels. We each have our own place to hang them on the towel rail in the en-suite so we know which is which. DS and DD always have a different coloured towel to the other one so we know which is which. But they do tend to do a bit of swapping about mainly to wind each other up. I am planning on buying a set of matching towels for this bathroom though. Swimming towels are washed after each use.

I use two towels everytime I have a bath or a shower and they go straight in the wash. Dh uses the same one all week for the gym (very smelly by weekend) and he uses maybe two to dry himself and the kids each night after their baths. That's it in a week! The majority of the towel wash is mine!!! I usually do all my washing on a weekend and this weekend I did eleven loads.

we all have our own and they are washed once a week.....

Great reponses ladies, thank you.
Looks like I am in the majority then (phew!).
Soupy, lol
Freckle, I didn' dare ask colleague how she folded her towels. Personally I find Anthea's method awkward for hanging them as I have to refold them for the towel rack.
Scousewife, we havedifferent coloured towels in toning shades of blue/green - and even the children know which is theirs. That is a worms/nits/excema related precaution tbh.

Clary - where did you get them from? That's the sort of colours I am looking for.

Not going to say how often I wash ours - but having just read this I'm off to put a load on!

I don't know how everyone else has the time to be so clean as my washing m/c is on consantly and compared to everyone else I'm a minger!

we share towels too . there are 5 of us. baby has her ownbut the rest of us share.will change them every day . change bedding fortnightly or sooner if dp gets lucky

We each have our own and they are changed abt once a week I guess

colour coded (white for me, navy for grubby old DH, various blues in between for everyone else)
changed once a week (but not all on the same day, so white ones can go in a white wash, navy in a dark wash etc)
DH and I each have two - a bath towel for bodies and a small one for hair/face/hands.

I must say my personal feeling is that sharing used towels is not right. You can spread some serious nasties around this way - d&v, athlete's foot and conjunctivitis love living on damp towels (and I'm a microbiologist).
Sharing clean towels (ie first off the pile) is fine.

Changed once a week... if DH changes them. If left up to me, I would surely forget.

God I feel guilty enough in a hotel for not using the towel for longer. If it were my own house it would be inbearable. Your colleague does not live sustainably.

We all share them, although dd usually uses a smaller one so doesn't really share. I suppose that each towel is used a few times before being washed and the handtowel in the bathroom is chanegd every couple of days. we sling them over the radiator after use then in the linen basket for next time. I'm not personally bothered about sharing towels with my family as I@m sure we swap bugs in lots of other ways as well.
Swimming towels are washed after use though. Alos, I think I wash them more in the summer when they can be hung outside and dry wuicker as I hate them hanging around on all the radiators.

Clean towel- every time, absolutely. A horror of mine, there does tend to be a hand towel left in bathroom but I don't think anyone uses it (not that the ds's or indeed dh wash as often as they could).

Disgusting towels though- tend to be whatever colour i dyed my hair last keep intending to dye them all black.

I do use Ecover as I know I do far too much washing!

we each have our own towels
me white x2 one bath sheet, bath towel (for hair)
Dh navy
Ds1 dinosaurs or cars
Ds2 white/blue
all washed approx every third day

Oh lord what a thread.

All these bits and arses.

spidermama, agree re colleague's non-sustainable living. She washes her dh's work clothes every day, ditto his gym clothes, ditto his "lounge around at home" clothes. Her dds have clean outfit every day, clean jamas too. She says she does 3 loads a day, tbh I'm surprised it's that few!
Bozza, dh and my blue ones were from John Lewis, Ds1 and DD's ditto but a couple of yrs later; ds2's are from dunelm in the sale IIRC. Trouble is all these shops change their colours regularly so may not do them any more.
But \link{http://www.johnlewis.com/Home+and+Garden/Bathroom/Bath+Linen/Towels/2/0/ProductType.aspx\these} are nice, kingfisher, lapis and breeze?

Ds and dd each have their own towels. They get washed once a week after swimming. They have a bath on a Tuesday and Thursday, then go swimming on a Sunday and have a shower after. They take the same towels swimming. So even though the towels last a week, that is only 2 baths, and a swim.

Mine and dh's towels get used twice, then washed. I usually use it clean, then dh uses my dirty one...so he can dry his face where I have wiped my "arse and bits"

So I'm the minority then at fornightly! .

I'd do them more often if I had another set of bath sheets - got plenty of "ordinary" sized towels, but both dh and I prefer the bath sheets, which means that they need to be washed and dried in a day (and I hate using the dryer if I don't need to)....

......keep meaning to get some more!

Now should I admit that ds (5.5) only gets a bath once a week - and even missed it yesterday as the snow meant that his rigby was cancelled. No, I think I'll keep quiet about that!

(We'll probably try to persuad him in to a bath tonight )

Woman is a nutter.
All you people worried about nether regions,need one of those towels from Hawkins Bazaar labelled ARSE and FACE at separate ends.

Well she does seem a bit obsessive. I have to change mine regularly only cos dh insists on using his, then mine then ds's. So when i go to use my towel in morning it is soaking wet. How can one man create such a pool of water????

she is completely barking

once a week is normal

I also suspect that all those who wash more than once a week must have a tumble drier, mustn't you? I don't have one, and in the winter, it's not always that easy to get them dry (and certainly not in time for the next shower/bath).